This reverses a 38 - 34 percent Sink lead in a June 9 survey by the independent
Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. The key is among independent voters who shift from
32 - 27 percent for McCollum June 9 to 38 - 23 percent today.

Gov. Charlie Crist leads former state House Speaker Marco Rubio 55 - 26 percent for the
Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, compared to 54 - 23 percent margin June 10.

The three potential candidates for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, U.S. Reps.
Kendrick Meek, Ron Klein and Corrine Brown, are bunched together and largely unknown to
most Floridians.

"Bill McCollum has been on the ballot in Florida for decades in various campaigns and
this exposure to the voters seems to be serving him well," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director
of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Floridians know him better than they do Ms.
Sink, who first ran for office in 2006. When voters are asked to rate him personally and in his
job performance as attorney general he gets strongly positive ratings."

"Ms. Sink's numbers indicate she has made a good first impression on Florida voters, but
a much larger share of the electorate does not know her compared to McCollum," said Brown.

Crist's lead over Rubio in a GOP primary shows no gender gap as 56 percent of women
and 53 percent of men support him. His 60 - 30 percent job approval as Governor, while his
highest disapproval ever, shows that his support extends well beyond his Republican base.

Among Republicans, the only ones who can vote in a GOP primary, his rating is 66 - 28
percent. His strength as a general election candidate stems from his 54 - 35 percent positive
rating from Democrats and 63 - 27 percent grade among independents.

"History is not rife with examples of governors with 60 percent job approval ratings,
including 66 percent in their own party and 54 percent from the opposition party, being defeated
when they sought U.S. Senate seats. Obviously, we have 15 months until the election and a year
before the Republican primary, but Gov. Crist remains in very strong shape," said Brown.

The competition for the Democratic nomination to oppose the Crist-Rubio winner remains
wide open: Meek gets 18 percent, with 12 percent for Klein, 9 percent for Brown and 57 percent
undecided. Each of the three is so unknown to most Florida voters that 80 percent or more have
no opinion of them.

"Whoever wins the party nomination has a long way to go to introduce themselves to
voters outside of their individual congressional districts," said Brown.

From August 12 - 17, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,136 Florida voters with a margin
of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. The survey includes 446 Republicans with a margin of error
of +/- 4.6 percentage points and 434 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 4.7 percentage
points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were Corrine Brown, Ron Klein
and Kendrick Meek, for whom would you vote?

TREND: (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were Corrine Brown, Ron Klein .
and Kendrick Meek, for whom would you vote? (na:Not Asked)

TREND:(If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for United
States Senator were being held today and the candidates were Marco Rubio and
Charlie Crist, for whom would you vote?(na:Not Asked)

TREND: (If registered Republican) Which is more important to you when you decide
how to vote in the Republican primary for the United States Senate - the
candidate's ideas or the candidate's experience?

12. (If registered Republican) Which is more important to you when you decide
how to vote in the Republican primary for the United States Senate - the
candidate's ability to win the general election or the candidate's views on the
issues?

TREND: (If registered Republican) Which is more important to you when you decide
how to vote in the Republican primary for the United States Senate - the
candidate's ability to win the general election or the candidate's views on the
issues?